Conventionally, a card reader has been widely utilized, which performs reading of magnetic data recorded in a card and recording of magnetic data to the card. In an industry such as a financial institution where a card reader is utilized, illegal acquisition of magnetic data of a card by a fraudulent person who attaches a magnetic head to a card insertion part of a card reader in inserting the card into the card reader, in other words, so-called skimming has conventionally become a large issue. In order to cope with the issue, various methods have been proposed for preventing reading of magnetic data using a magnetic head for skimming (hereinafter, referred to as a “skimming magnetic head”) (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).
Patent Literature 1 discloses a card insertion and ejection part to be mounted forward of a card reader. The card insertion and ejection part includes a card conveying mechanism structured to convey a card, and a card rotating mechanism structured to rotate a card. A card which is formed in a substantially rectangular shape is inserted into the card insertion and ejection part so that a short widthwise direction of the card is coincided with an inserting direction of the card. Further, in the card insertion and ejection part, the card which has been inserted so that the short widthwise direction of the card is coincided with the inserting direction of the card is turned in a certain direction at a certain angle by the card rotating mechanism so that a longitudinal direction of the card is coincided with the inserting direction of the card, and then is sent into the card reader by the card conveying mechanism. In the card reader, the card is processed after the card is conveyed so that the longitudinal direction of the card is coincided with the conveying direction of the card.
A card in conformity with the international standard and JIS standard is formed in a substantially rectangular shape. In such a card, a magnetic stripe in which magnetic data are recorded is formed along a longitudinal direction of the card. In the card insertion and ejection part described in Patent Literature 1, the card is inserted so that the short widthwise direction of the card is coincided with the inserting direction of the card. Therefore, even if a skimming magnetic head is attached to the card insertion and ejection part, as long as the card insertion and ejection part is mounted forward of the card reader, the skimming magnetic head is incapable of reading magnetic data in inserting the card into the card insertion and ejection part. In other words, it is possible to prevent skimming in such a manner that the card insertion and ejection part described in Patent Literature 1 is mounted forward of a card reader.
Of cards in conformity with the international standard and JIS standard, as shown in, for example, FIG. 11, a card 102 has a rear face 102a on which a magnetic stripe 102b is formed. In the card 102, the magnetic stripe 102b is formed at a predetermined position with one end face 102c in a short widthwise direction of the card 102 as a reference, in the short widthwise direction of the card 102, and a distance between the other end face 102d in the short widthwise direction of the card 102 and the magnetic stripe 102b is considerably longer than a distance between the end face 102c and the magnetic stripe 102b. 